Elected officials treat citizens as customers and speak as if tax dollars are payments for goods and services received rather than an obligation of citizenship. They encourage us to ask whether we, personally, are getting our money's worth from government.

What puts this first year in perspective for me is that: Obama may not be smarter than all of us, but he sure is smarter by a long shot than McCain would have been. And that, for now, is enough for me.

The vast majority of Americans is weary of ideological bickering and interested only in backing leaders who can do something about their problems.

With Daniel Berrier of Electopundit Part 1: Reading the Election Barack Hussein Obama, the newly elected 44th President of the United States is almo...